I am thinking about picking up a cheap EE 9.7"/10.1" model, with the idea of upgrading it to Ermine. I am a bit concerned about the potential for the white screen of death, however Ive also heard that its mostly limited to the PE model. Anyone know if thats true? How much of a gamble is it to upgrade the EE?

It's hard to judge. You're either lucky or not, but I think your chances of WSoD are very small. I upgraded mine soon after I got it, breathed a sigh of relief when all went well, and never looked back. In my opinion the upgrade is worth the small risk.

For a start I don't remember anyone reporting a WSoD for the EE so I think you can discount that.

The only real problem is that you get green still pictures when using the camera - the video does not have this quirk.

You may or may not have a problem with the unit coming out of hibernation - some people report no problems with that al all while a lot of us do have that problem and have learned to switch off rather than hibernate.

Make sure you get the version of Ermine fot the device you get - they are NOT interchangeable. Trying to use the one for the PE on an EE is the source of most, if not all, the reported screen problems.

Also I would recommend that you steer clear of the allmine ermine update until you are happy with the standard Ermine - in fact, unless you absolutely have to have the market/play there is no need for it.

One last thing, I upgraded my EE to Ermine almost as soon as it was available from Entourage and have not had any problems other than green pictures and no hibernation.

I am thinking about picking up a cheap EE 9.7"/10.1" model, with the idea of upgrading it to Ermine. I am a bit concerned about the potential for the white screen of death, however Ive also heard that its mostly limited to the PE model. Anyone know if thats true? How much of a gamble is it to upgrade the EE?

The EE is not prone to the WSOD. Some owners attribute their WSOD on the PE to Ermine but I believe this is just a coincidence. I have two PEs which were both upgraded to Ermine over 1.5 years ago and both still work with no problems. I have noticed an occasional white screen when coming out of hibernation and will admit that at first it took me breath away, but it doesn't happen very often and clears after a few seconds.

My EE was upgraded to Ermine well over a year ago and the only issues I have are the green pictures, and the stock browser crashes, but I really don't use it, I use Opera Mini and it has never crashed on me, not once. My EE comes out of hibernation perfectly each and every time so you may not experience the hibernation issue. There are other EE owners who haven't experienced the hibernation problem.

Ermine is pretty stable and I recommend the Entourage release unless you absolutely have to have the Google Play Store. Good luck.

Ermine is pretty stable and the I recommend the Entourage release unless you have an absolutely have to have the Google Play Store. Good luck.

Ive had non standard google devices before and have learned to live without the official google apps or the store. Im also planning on using it primarily as an ereader, with light use of the android half. I mostly became interested in it as it seems like the cheapest 9.7" eInk device you can get a hold of at the momment.

Ive had non standard google devices before and have learned to live without the official google apps or the store. Im also planning on using it primarily as an ereader, with light use of the android half. I mostly became interested in it as it seems like the cheapest 9.7" eInk device you can get a hold of at the momment.

There I have to agree with you, it puts my kindle DX to shame and was not as expensive.

I wanted to thank folks for their help. I recieved my EE today and its working great after the Ermine, no browser crashing or hibernation problems. The trackball does stay lit durring hibernation, but I gather this is somewhat normal?